Really,
TerragonSix, there have been threads in which I've felt as though there was only one member of the Riker Anti-Fan Club, and that was me. So I'm surprised that your nice little thread has pulled so many potential members out of the woodwork.
But to draaaaaag myself back on topic, you mentioned in your OP that one of the things you like about Riker is that he kind of harks back to Kirk. Well, there you've put your finger on one of the things that I dislike about Riker. We already had one Kirk - and Kirk, for that matter, harks back to lots of previous heroes. So why do we need yet another Kirk? That's how I felt at the time TNG came out, anyway, and I see it even more strongly when I watch TNG now. To be honest, sometimes I get a bit tired of Kirk, so you can imagine how little a second, and for the most part inferior Kirk, appeals to me.
(Thanks for being a good sport when I teased you. Too many people on the internet with a short temper, know what I mean?)
It's difficult for me to respond to your question 'Why do we need yet another Kirk?', because frankly, I'm a bit on the opposite side of the coin. I liked Kirk, heroes like him before, and Riker.
It's a lot like liking (Pardon my star trek blasphemy) Han Solo from Star Wars, or Cole Thorton (John Wayne) from El Dorado, or even the Captain from
Das Boot. Personally, I have a tendency to like seat of the pants, unorthodox leaders. Ones that don't always cling to the rulebook. They don't have a fixation of getting promoted, concentrating on getting rich or promoted, or brown-nosing authority.
I can identify with that type of hero, better than say Picard (I like Picard, by the way). For many people, that's who they want to be, or who they strive to be. And while many people, myself included, are drawn to that archetype hero, there are a lot of others who prefer brains over brawn, they like Spock, or Picard, etc. That's fine with me, and their opinion is just as valid as mine or anyone else.
Recently, I played a video game called "L.A. Noire", a detective based game based in 1947 Los Angeles. The main character that you play, a Detective Phelps, moves up the ranks and solves cases. He's very good at this, gets a reputation, but has a dark past, which included cowardice on the battlefield, and slaughtering innocents in WWII as a Marine. Even while you are solving cases, you get involved in an affair with a hollywood crooner, it hits the press, your wife leaves you and you get demoted and put under investigation. But through it all you still try to do what's right, investigate and solve cases.
I won't spoil the ending, but I brought this up because it made me discover a new type a hero. Not exactly an antihero, but a guy that has realistic moral flaws, makes bad decisions, but still, at his core, still tries to the right thing. I suppose
House would come close.
Ironically, I can identify with that kind of hero (or whatever they are) easier than I can Kirk or Riker, etc. It appeals to me in a very personal way.
Whoa, sorry, got off topic there. Anyway, to sum it up, Riker rocks!
Apparently TarragonSix managed to touch a nerve.
, I agree again. Actually, I think Picard is more realistic than Riker - mostly because his character was written to be more complex than Riker's, at least in my opinion. So was Spock's - and so (to a lesser degree) was Kirk's. So it seems we can agree and disagree at the very same moment. Interesting!
